System and method for measurement of biological parameters of a subject

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for use in monitoring of biological parameters of a subject. The system includes an illumination unit including at least one light source of at least one pre-selected wavelength band, to be applied to a selected region in the subject; and a detection system configured for measuring reflections of the light at different angles and different spatial locations with respect to the illuminated region. The detection system is configured and operable to detect spatially separated light components corresponding to the specular dependent component of the signal and the pulsatile-related diffused component of the signal coming from the subject in different directions respectively, thereby defining at least two independent channels of information, enabling identification of the reflected signal part dependent on motion effects.

1 . A system for use in monitoring of biological parameters of a subject, the system comprising:
 (i) an illumination unit including at least one light source of at least one pre-selected wavelength band, to be applied to a selected region in the subject; and   (ii) a detection system configured for measuring reflections of said light at different angles and different spatial locations with respect to the illuminated region, said detection system being configured and operable to detect spatially separated light components corresponding to the specular dependent component of the signal and the pulsatile-related diffused component of the signal coming from the subject in different directions respectively, thereby defining at least two independent channels of information, enabling identification of the reflected signal part dependent on motion effects.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , comprising a control unit connectable to said illumination unit and to said detection system, said control unit being configured to analyze at least two independent channels of information indicative of the detected signals, to eliminate the signal part dependent on motion effects and determine one or more biological parameters. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the control unit comprises:
 a data acquisition utility responsive to data coming from said detection system; and   a modulating utility associated with the illumination system;   a data processing and analyzing utility for analyzing data from said data acquisition utility and determining said at least one parameter;   a memory utility for storing coefficients required to perform predetermined calculation by said data processing and analyzing utility; and,   an external information exchange utility configured to enable downloading of the processed information to an external user.   
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the detection system comprises at least one detection unit distant from one another detection units. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the illumination unit is distantly located from said subject, and at least one of the detection units is attached to said subject. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the detection and illumination units is distantly located from the subject. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the detection units is distantly located from the subject. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , configured for use in sleep monitoring. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , configured for use in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome monitoring. 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 1 , configured for use in patient monitoring at hospital condition. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 1 , configured for use in monitoring during sport activity. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said illumination unit includes at least one optically collimated light source, and a facility to direct said collimated beam to said selected region in the subject. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said illumination unit is adapted to disperse the electromagnetic radiation so that part of it is scattered from said subject. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one source of the illumination unit is coupled with a polarization system enabling to create polarized electromagnetic signal in one preferable direction, and an entrance of at least one of detection units of the detection system is coupled with a polarization system enabling only certain direction of pre-selected polarized radiation to be detected. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one parameter of the examined subject is heart rate. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the control unit is configured to analyze the data indicative of the detected signals and determine at least one blood related parameter of the subject, derive therefrom the at least one Central Nervous System (CNS) related characteristic, and compare said at least one CNS characteristic of the subject obtained prior to and under a provocation stimulus including exposure of the subject to pre-defined visual or audio information, which is chosen to be verified and revealed. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 1 , configured and operable for distant or non-contact monitoring. 
   
   
       18 . A method for use in non-invasive determination of biological parameters of a subject, the method comprising illuminating a selected region of the subject by light of at least one wavelength, and detecting reflections of said light from at least two distant geometrical locations in said selected region, such as to detect spatially separated light components coming from the illuminated region in different directions respectively, thereby defining at least two independent channels of information, enabling identification of the reflected signal part dependent on motion effects. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , comprising distant or non-contact monitoring of a physiological parameter of a subject; exposing said subject to predefined stimulus; deriving central nervous system (CNS) characteristics from blood measurement; and comparing said CNS characteristics with CNS characteristics obtained prior the stimulus 
   
   
       20 . A method for extraction of biological signal out of noise and motion artifacts, the method comprising using opto-physiological invariants (OPI) to distinguish between a real biological signal and other interferences. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , comprising:
 building a set of the original signal being modified by different frequency sensitive band-pass filters;   calculating said OPI for each band-pass ranges; and,   extracting from the OPI data the frequency pattern of physiological signal value.   
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said opto-physiological invariant is GAMMA, defined as a ratio of (AC/DC) wavelength1 /(AC/DC) wavelength2  wherein (AC/DC) is the ratio of the pulsatile component of a signal to the mean value of the signal obtained for two different wavelengths, respectively. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said OPI is a parametric slope (PS) associated with occlusion related signals, defined as (Δ Log(S 1 )/Δ Log (S 2 ), where Δ Log(S 1 ) and Δ Log(S 1 ) are logarithmic time variations of light response signals S 1  and S 2  measured for two different wavelengths, respectively. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said OPI is a linear or non-linear combination of GAMMA and PS for different combination of wavelengths. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said OPI is a convolution of signal responses at different wavelengths.